ghost of miles

Final Miles re-aired again last week and remains archived for online listening.

My first set was the Andrew Hill Blue Note 1963-1966 set, shortly after it came out in 1995. I was working in a record store at the time and read about it as an upcoming release in ICE Magazine; when I mentioned it to my friend and frequent jazz customer Sascha Feinstein, Sascha said "Oh yes, it'll be excellent--but it's Mosaic, you'll have to order it by mail." That was my introduction to the label, and one that I still love. Another early purchase that I love as much is the Jackie McLean 1964-66 Blue Note box. The Sam Rivers set that came out around that time, the Illinois Jacquet... I fell hard in the mid-90s.

Freddie Redd's Music From The Connection with Jackie McLean on Blue Note--does that qualify? I know The Connection began as a play, but both Redd and McLean also appeared in the film version that shortly followed. Btw there's a Night Lights show coming up in late February that pairs Odds Against Tomorrow and Anatomy Of A Murder--part of a series I'm starting on Black jazz composers in Hollywood.

I agree that a large-scale CD revival seems highly unlikely, though I wonder what the impact of the logistical issues that have been plaguing new vinyl production will ultimately be on that format's success going forward. After I shared this same story to Facebook, I did get a fun text from my youngest brother, informing me that he'd sent the story to my 16-year-old niece because she likes to listen to CDs on an old boombox. And her younger sister informed me at Thanksgiving that she loves CDs and flip phones. Undoubtedly my family's youngest generation is an outlier, but it's still a kick to hear such retro inklings from them.

Oh yeah, and I think Sheffield acknowledges this to some extent in his article. I'm just happy to see somebody touting the format... for the past couple of years I've doodled around on a draft of a post for the Night Lights site extolling CDs. Darcy James Argue recently posted on Twitter about retaining all of his Ellington CDs because Spotify's Ellington catalogue is so spotty. And I was happy to see this item in the Hoffman thread that you mentioned: Generation Records in NYC selling new CDs again. "Just when I thought I was out...they pull me back in. It’s 2022 and we have started to sell new CDs again. We restocked hundreds of new titles this week, with many more on the way."

Perhaps a bit of premature exaggeration here, but still happy to see a prominent music writer taking up the cause of what remains my favorite (by far) physical music format: Jewel-Box Heroes: Why The CD Revival Is Finally Here

Oh hell yes!!! Dusty Groove had a used copy of the 32 Jazz reissue for $25 that I ultimately passed on about five years ago. I'll confess that I haven't bought from Jazz Messengers before, though I know a number of posters here swear by them. Definitely picking this one up.

Michael Cuscuna’s favorite album from Dexter’s late-1970s Columbia run:

Dangerous Days, the three and a half hour 2007 documentary about the making of Blade Runner. I’ve been reobsessed lately with it and the 2049 sequel.

1963: A Man’s Dream, A Nation’s Nightmare aired again this past week in honor of MLK Day, and it remains archived for online listening.

Good pairing! Dipping into one of the David Murray Black Saint/Soul Note boxes with this CD:

Somehow missed this reissue when it came out last year and may need to belatedly add it to my “best historical 2021” list, along with French Ballads:

They both appear to be on Facebook. You might also try emailing Michael Cuscuna at Mosaic, who could probably give you the info or forward your note.

Listening to disc 2—the leadoff track, “Spectrum” from 1952 is quite a ride... a lane eventually turned into a superhighway by Cecil Taylor? Twice during the 1961 sides I’ve heard figures that actually remind me of Herbie Nichols a bit. This box is amazing! Trying to think of comparable sudden additions to an artist’s discography... Tristano’s has never been scant, exactly (unlike Hasaan Ibn Ali, whose available material has more than tripled in the past year), but this is quite a haul for his recorded legacy. Treasure trove, best addition in that regard from Mosaic since the Savory set.

My copy finally arrived just an hour ago. Grateful for board members' heads-up about the sound--I was prepared for it to be much worse than what I'm hearing so far. (I mean, it's definitely rough, no doubt.) I love Lennie's Keynote sides, which match the disc 1 era, and man, he sounds even more adventurous here, to my ears, anyway. Really looking forward to taking in the rest of this set over the next week or so. Still mind-blowing to contemplate that Lennie, Monk and Bud were all on the scene and entering their prime in 1946.

Thanks for your reflections on this set, RT. Mine is supposed to arrive tomorrow... looking forward to spending some time with it this weekend.

Seeing a lot of new releases in the past year with strings or string quartets:

One of the things I like best about the 1986-1991: The Warner Years set is how they gather all of Miles' sideman appearances from that era on the fifth disc. Regarding Michael Brecker, I think I posted this in the jazz radio forum shortly after the interview, but a fair amount of interesting stuff here about Brecker's time at IU, as well as several audience recordings of him playing in Bloomington in the late 1960s: Michael Brecker In Late-1960s Bloomington, Indiana

Miles Davis also did a, uh, cameo with Cameo:

Me three.